Patrick: Southfield land transfer deal 'weeks’ away

Gov. Deval Patrick said today a land transfer deal with the Navy that has been stalling Weymouth’s Southfield development project is “not months but weeks” away.

Nancy Reardon

Gov. Deval Patrick said today a land transfer deal with the Navy that has been stalling Weymouth’s Southfield development project is “not months but weeks” away.

Patrick, who recently returned from a governor’s conference in Washington, D.C., said he met with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus during his trip.

“It will not be months but weeks before you have a deal in hand to transfer the land over,” Patrick said during a Patriot Ledger editorial board meeting.

The Navy still owns 800 acres of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which is part of a redevelopment project called Southfield.

In November, Patrick met with Mabus about getting a reduction on the $43 million the Navy has demanded for the land.

Right now, the land is being reappraised by the federal General Services Administration, an agency that Patrick said “has committed to being flexible.”

The Navy has said it wants to see a new appraisal of the property before agreeing to any reduction of the $43 million it says is the fair-market value of the land.

Congressman William Delahunt, a Quincy Democrat whose district includes the South Shore and Cape Cod, had hoped to get legislation passed to require the Navy to turn the remaining base land over to the local development agency, the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., at no cost.

Nancy Reardon may be reached at nreardon@ledger.com.

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